The Impact of Heavy (Excessive) Video Gaming Students on Peers and Teachers in the School Environment: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Video gaming has now become very popular among children and adolescents. Because of the increasing useof videogames, the debate concerning the effects of video games has been ongoing, particularly in terms ofgamers’ social lives. This study explores the impact of heavy gaming students on their peers and teachersin the school environment. For this purpose, focus-group and face-to-face interviews have been carried outusing semi-structured interview forms developed by the research team. The data have been collected from21 participants comprised of three heavy gaming students, 16 peers, and two teachers. The findings indicateheavy gamers to display problematic behaviors including communication and behavioral problems withinthe school environment. Results also show heavy gaming students to prefer staying at home and playingvideogames rather than attending school activities. Heavy gamers mostly prefer spending time with otherheavy gamers or with male peers because they have mutual topics they can talk about (video games, theirgame talents, soccer, outdoor games etc.), which they are unable to with girls. According to the teachers,heavy gamers have low-school performance. However, the English teacher emphasized the positive effectsof video gaming on students’ English vocabulary.